When the Word Gets Out
by Midnight Muser
Summary: The girls of the 104 give Annie advice about how to ask Armin out. That advice Annie may, or may not, put to use.


**AN: A two chapter prompt.**

**The second chapter I still have to write.**

**I really missed writing the girls all together, and this prompt let me do****_ just_**** that! I hope I didn't butcher their characters ****_too_**** badly; it's been a while...**

**Enjoy! **

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><p>Annie knew that something was up the moment she opened her eyes and saw that her comrades were still in their barrack. Normally—always—she was the last one to wake up, save for Sasha who sometimes overslept the morning after an especially crazy day of fooling around with Connie. Today, though, all of the girls were present; they were fully dressed and ready to go at any moment, but they weren't….and that confused Annie to no end.<p>

Watching them sit in a clustered mess by Christa's bed, Annie began to wonder if something had happened. The only time she'd ever woken up to everyone sitting together like that was when Shadis had to attend to an emergency, and the trainees (who were still to inexperienced to help) had to stay behind. The only difference between that time and this was that no one looked scared.  
>In fact, from the looks on most of their faces, Annie could only describe them as looking…amused?<p>

Propping herself up on her elbows, Annie cleared her throat in hopes of gaining the girls attention. It took her a few tries—whatever they were talking about, they sure were being vocal about it—but she finally captured their eyes and ears.  
>"Did something happen?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at them in mild curiosity.<br>The looks they gave her in response to her question told her that, yes, something did happen, but it wasn't something horrible; at least, Annie hoped it wasn't something horrible.

"Something happened, yes," Christa spoke up, a nervous smile on her face. "But, it's nothing that you should be worried about!" A high-pitched squeak escaped her mouth after she spoke, and Ymir laughed beside her.

"Come on, cutie, you know it concerns her," she smirked, and her eyes drifted over to make contact with Annie's.  
>"So, Leonhardt, I hear you got a crush on Arlert, huh?"<p>

Listening to the words being spoken, but not registering them at first, Annie only hummed in response. It wasn't until she was asked for clarification that the reality of the question asked sunk in. Trying to keep her expression neutral while her heart hammered in her chest, she shook her head.

"That's ridiculous," she deadpanned, hoping to kill the conversation with one blow. "Where did you even hear something like that? Or are you just making things up to get a good laugh."

"We're not making anything up, Annie!" Sasha chimed in, a smile on her face. "Reiner told Christa last night to give you some advice on how to ask him out, and Ymir overheard the conversation. That's how we know." She ended with a nervous gulp, because Annie's expression had gone from neutral to straight-up murderous in a mere matter of seconds.

"I swear we're only trying to help, though!" Christa added sheepishly, not wanting to upset Annie; that's the _last_ thing she needed.  
>"I was going to come and talk to you privately about it later, but <em>someone<em>decided to be a big-mouth and spoil it all…"

There was a few moments after that of Ymir and Christa going back and forth about the proper etiquette of secret-keeping before Annie started to get annoyed. Not only was her secret out in the open so early in the morning, but everyone was being _so damn loud_ about it.

"If you guys promise that you'll let me get ready in peace after this is over with, I'll let you give me your stupid advice."

That shut everyone up pretty quickly.

With an excited and thankful smile, Christa nodded. "Thank you, Annie! I promise that-"

"But I am _not_ going to ask him out. No way."

A chorus of sighs resonated throughout the room at that, and Annie almost smiled. What did they _think_ she was going to say—that she was going to profess her love for the kid right after coming to terms with the fact that more than just her few close friends knew about her crush? The thought was a laughable one, but she hid her amusement, and hid it well.

It didn't take long for the group to quiet down once more, and come to the agreement that they'd each take turns giving Annie advice. Some of the girls had advice to give her from the guys, too, and Annie was left to wonder just how many people knew about this.

First up was Christa, since she was the one who was originally told of Annie's interest in Armin. The only advice she had to give was: "Just be yourself! You two already talk a lot, and share similar interests, so it shouldn't be _too_ hard to get him to like you as more than a friend….just try to be…sweet!"  
>Everyone agreed that the last part of her advice was probably an impossibility and they carried on.<p>

Next up was Ymir, who jokingly, or seriously (it was always hard to tell with her) said, "Just make him your bitch. Then he'll have to like you!" followed by her boisterous laughter.

Sasha had advice to give from both herself and Connie.  
>"Connie said not to worry about it too much," she said, a finger to her chin as she thought about what it was exactly he had said to her. "Just be yourself and he'll come around eventually. He digs chicks who keep it real with him." There were a few snickers after that, and Annie couldn't help but to smirk a bit.<br>"And my advice to you is-" Once again, the girl took her time formulating the words she wanted to say in her head before speaking. "Win him over with your talents! Show off a bit! Guys like a confident girl! At least, I think they do…Connie seems to like it."

A few questions about their relationship, and _more than a few_ denials on Sasha's end later, and the group was back in order.  
>Last in the group to go, was Mikasa.<p>

"I'm just going to get straight to the point," she said, wasting no time with friendly banter. "He already likes you. You just have to show him that you like him too." The room grew loud once again at that, and Mikasa waited patiently for them to be quiet, while Annie simply sat on her bed in shock. The words that came out of Mikasa's mouth seemed too good to be true, and she was waiting for the girl to tell her it was all just a cruel joke.  
>"The only advice that I have to give to you—and this comes from me <em>and<em> Eren—is to treat Armin right. If you don't, you're going to have both of us to answer to, got it?"

Annie didn't answer, because she didn't feel like she needed to. Treat him right? Of course she would; she wouldn't _dream_ of ever hurting him—as long as circumstances allowed. Besides, it wasn't as if she'd _ever_ get the chance to hurt him in any other way besides physically on the training grounds. When it came to matters of the heart, Annie just liked to let things happen as they wanted to happen. She wouldn't do anything to change what was between herself and Armin, and neither would she try to stop him if he wanted to confess to her.

She could tell Mikasa knew that, because she dropped the threat right after it came out of her mouth.

Feeling relieved that Mikasa's advice had been left alone, Annie sighed and sat up fully. Panning over the girls still chatting idly around her, she narrowed her eyes.

"It's time for you all to keep up your end of this shitty deal," she said, though there was less malice in her voice than before. Although she wouldn't say it out loud, she did—in her own way—appreciate the advice she was given today.

"Right. Better give Princess Annie time to get her shit together before I wreck it on the training grounds!"

"In your dreams, Ymir."

This time when the others laughed, Annie joined in, happy that even though she wasn't the friendliest of people, and even though she wasn't good in situations like this, her comrades—or maybe even her friends—cared about her.

And who could know? Maybe she'd end up taking their advice into consideration in the very near future.

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><p><strong>Thank you for taking the time to read this!<strong>

**Comments, follows, favorites, ****_constructiv_****e criticism, and all that jazz is very much appreciated.**


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